Spencer father charged in baby-dunking

Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Tuesday July 22, 2014 at 6:00 am

Updated Tuesday July 22, 2014 at 8:24 am

SPENCER — A local man told police that when he dunked his 2-month-old son in Stiles Reservoir on Sunday, he and his friends were simply mimicking YouTube videos he'd watched about teaching babies to hold their breath underwater.

Nicholas St. Francis, 23, of 12 Wilson Ave. and friends allegedly videotaped the incident. Police said the video showed the baby being submerged while adults laughed and cheered. A police report indicates the participants were drinking.

Spencer police were alerted when a friend of the baby's mother called 911 to report that she'd seen the video and it appeared Mr. St. Francis was "trying to drown the baby."

The child's mother, Kendra Ballou, left her job and went home after receiving the video. Ms. Ballou told police she phoned an on-call number for her doctor's office and was told the child would be fine, but she later took the baby to a Worcester hospital, a police report said. Mr. St. Francis followed on his motorcycle as police were trying to find them.

Once they were at the hospital and police had found the couple, an officer viewed the video and described it in a report.

"Nicholas was shown holding the infant and dipping him twice into the lake. The third time the entire child was submerged. The screaming child was lifted out of the water to cheers and laughter from the adults," Officer Valerie Morin wrote.

According to court documents, the 2-month-old's parents were upset that police were investigating, and Ms. Ballou was angry that her friend had alerted police.

"Kendra stated she watched videos of baby dunking on YouTube. All the videos claim the baby could not drown. All you had to do was blow into the baby's face and the baby will start to breathe again," the report said.

Mr. St. Francis told police he'd been drinking but the baby was not harmed "so he did not understand what the problem was," according to court documents.

The state Department of Children and Families was notified and, police said, Ms. Ballou then "changed and was concerned for the child."

She told police she now believed Mr. St. Francis used poor judgment "and she will do whatever it takes to keep her child." She then took the child and left to stay out of town.

Monday before Judge Jennifer L. Ginsburg in Western Worcester District Court in East Brookfield, bail was set at $500 for Mr. St. Francis on charges of reckless endangerment of a child and assault and battery. He was ordered to comply with DCF recommendations and is due back in court Sept. 9.